Children's burial ground, Kilkilvery, Co. Galway

Co. Galway |

Burial Grounds

Children’s burial ground, Kilkilvery, Co. Galway

On a west-south-west-facing grassland slope in Kilkilvery, County Galway, there is a burial ground that leaves no mark on the land whatsoever.

No enclosing wall, no scatter of small stones, no depression in the turf. Its existence is carried entirely in local memory rather than in anything the eye can find.

The site is believed to have been a cillín, the term commonly used for an unofficial burial ground where unbaptised infants, and sometimes stillborn children, were interred outside the boundaries of consecrated ground. Catholic doctrine, as it was practised in Ireland for centuries, held that a child who died without baptism could not be buried in a parish churchyard alongside the faithful. Communities responded by quietly designating marginal places, field edges, old ringfort interiors, shorelines, and hillside slopes, where these children could be laid to rest. The practice was widespread across Ireland from the medieval period well into the twentieth century, and such sites are found in their hundreds throughout the country, many of them, like this one in Kilkilvery, surviving only in the knowledge of local people rather than in any physical form the ground has retained.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Children’s burial ground, Kilkilvery, Co. Galway. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement